History of U.S. Territorial Acquisitions

"From the time the American Colonists wrested the thirteen original States from Great Britain, the history of the United States has been a continued story of national expansion."

Marshall Everett, Editor
"Exciting Experiences in our Wars with Spain and the Filipinos," 1900

U.S. Attitudes Towards Expansionism

Manifest Destiny , the Silent Driving Force of Expansionism

Thomas Jefferson, First Expansionist

The Last Expansionists

U.S. Territorial Acquisitions as of 1900

U.S. Mainland Territories

Original 13 States and Dates of Joining the Union

Louisian Purchase States

Outlying U.S. Territories

Pacific Islands Under U.S. Possession

U.S. Territorial Maps (1783-1900)

Original 13 States (1783) and Other Nations' Influence

U.S. Comparative Map

U.S. Territorial Expansion Map

U.S. Annexation of Texas & Western States Map (1845-1848)

American Empire — 1900 (From Philippine Islands to Puerto Rico)

Manifest Destiny , the Silent Driving Force of U.S. Expansionism

". . .the right to overspread and to posses the continent allotted by Providence, for the development of the great experiment of liberty and federated self-government, for our yearly multiplying millions."

— John O'Sullivan, a journalist who first enunciated the idea of
Manifest Destiny to promote the annexation of Texas, writing
in his short-lived popular paper Morning Star, December 27, 1845

The First Expansionist

"The Constitution has made no provision for our holding foreign territory, still less for incorporating foreign nations into our union. The Executive, in seizing the fugitive occurrence with so much advances the good of their country, have done an act beyond the constitution. The legislature, in casting behind them metaphysical subtleties, and risking themselves like faithful servants, must ratify and pay for it, and throw themselves on their country for doing for them, unauthorized, what we know they would have done for themselves had they been in a situation to do it. It is the case of a guardian, investing the money of his ward in purchasing an important adjacent territory, and saying to him when of age, 'I did this for your good: I pretend to no right to bind you; you may disavow me and I trust to get out of the scrape as I can; I thought it my duty to risk myself for you.

— President Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to Senator
John Breckenridge of Kansas, August 12, 1803,
explaining his position on the Louisana Purchase

The Last Expansionists

"Territory sometimes comes to us when we go to war in a holy cause, and whenever it does the banner of liberty will float over it and bring, I trust, blessings and benefits to all people."

— President McKinley in a speech, October 25, 1898

"It means nothing. There is not an imperialist in the country that I have yet to met. Expansion? Yes; playing the part of a great nation. Expansion has been the law of our national growth. Our fathers worked, we rest; our forefathers toiled, endured, dared, and we stay at home to avoid trouble; our fathers conquered the West, but we are a feeble folk and we cannot hold the Philippines."

— Theodore Roosevelt, in a lecture at Pocatello, Idaho

U.S. Territorial Acquisitions as of 1900 (Total land area: 3,651,402 square miles) U.S. Mainland Territories (Land area: 2,930,210 square miles)
Territory Acquired	Land Area (sq. mi.)	Year Acquired	Acquired From	Acquisition Cost	Acquisition Authority	U.S. President
Original 13 States of the U.S.	892,135	Sept 3, 1783	England		American Revolution; Treaty of Paris	The first term of George Washington started in 1789
Louisiana Territory	827,987	April 30, 1803	France	$15 Million	Louisiana Purchase; Treaty of Paris	Thomas Jefferson
Florida	58,666	Feb 22, 1819	Spain	$5 Million	Florida Purchase	James Monroe
Contested Areas	13,435	1819	Spain			James Monroe
Texas	389,166	Dec 22, 1845	Annexed by the U.S.		Annexation by Consent	James Polk
Oregon and Pacific Coast Territories	189,962	1846	England		Ashburton Treaty fixing the U.S.-Canada border at 49th parallel.
California, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona	529,189	Feb 2, 1848; ratified by the Senate on March 10, 1848	Mexico	$15 Million cash; $3.25 Million to cover claims	U.S.-Mexican War; Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico
Southern Arizona	29,670	Dec 30, 1853	Mexico	$10 Million	Gadsden Treaty or Gadsden Purchase	Franklin Pierce
Total Area	2,930,210

Outlying U.S. Territories (Land area: 791,637 square miles)
Territory Acquired	Land Area (sq. mi.)	Year Acquired	Acquired From [Location]	Acquisition Cost	Acquisition Authority	U.S. President
Alaska	656,424	March 30, 1867	Russia	$7.2 Million	Alaska Purchase from Russia, rediculed as "Seward's folly."	Andrew Johnson
Hawaii	10,932	July 7, 1898 thru Newlands Resolution; August 12, 1898 as official acquisition date	Queen Lili'uokalani of Hawaii	None	Military Measure: U.S.-backed coup ousting the last Queen of Hawaii	William McKinley
Philippines	115,124	Dec 10, 1898	Spain	$20 Million purchase of Philippines from Spain	Treaty of Paris officially ending the Spanish-American War of 1898.
Guam	209
Puerto Rico	8,435
American Samoa	77	1899	Native Samoans	None	Tripartite Treaty of 1899 between the U.S., Germany, and Spain.
Panama Canal Zone	436	February 26, 1904	Panama	$10,000,000, plus $250,000 anual payment during the life of the treaty, beginning 9 years after date of treaty ratification.	U.S.-Panama Treaty	Theodore Roosevelt
Total Area	791,637

Pacific Islands Under U.S. Possession (Land area: 13.47 square miles)
Territory Acquired	Land Area (sq. mi.)	Year Acquired	U.S. President	Acquisition Authority
Baker Island	0.54	1857	James Buchanan	Purchase or Discovery
Howland Island	0.62
Jarvis Island	1.74
Kingman Reef	0.39	1858
Johnston Atoll	1.08	1858
Midway Island	2.00	1867	Andrew Johnson
Palmyra Atoll	4.59	1898	William McKinley
Wake Island	2.51	1899	William McKinley
Total Area	13.47

Original Thirteen States [Arranged according to the dates they joined the Union]
Name of State		State Capital	Date It Joined the Union	Land Area (Sq. mi.)
1.	Delaware		Dec. 7, 1787	2,489
2.	Pennsylvania		Dec. 12, 1787
3.	New Jersey		Dec. 18, 1787	8,722
4.	Georgia		Jan. 2, 1788
5.	Connecticut		Jan. 9, 1788	5,544
6.	Massachussets		Feb. 6, 1788
7.	Maryland		April 28, 1788	12,407
8.	South Carolina		May 23, 1788
9.	New Hamshire		June 21, 1788	9,351
10.	Virginia		June 25, 1788
11.	New York		July 26, 1788
12.	North Carolina		Nov. 21, 1789
13.	Rhode Island		May 29, 1790	1,545
TOTAL

Louisiana Purchase States
Name of State		State Capital	Order of Admission	Date of Admission	Land Area (sq. mi.)
1.	Louisiana	Baton Rouge	18	1812	47,720
2.	Missouri	Jefferson City	24	1821	69,709
3.	Arkansas	Little Rock	25	1836	53,183
4.	Iowa	Des Moines	29	1846	56,276
5.	Minnesota	St. Paul	32	1858	84,397
6.	Kansas	Topeka	34	1861	82,282
7.	Nebraska	Lincoln	37	1867	77,359
8.	Colorado	Denver	38	1876	104,100
9.	North Dakota	Bismark	39	1889	70,704
10.	South Dakota	Pierre	40	1889	77,359
11.	Montana	Helena	41	1889	147,047
12.	Wyoming	Cheyenne	44	1890	97,818
13.	Oklahoma	Oklahoma City	46	1907	69,903
TOTAL					1,037,857

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